


Stolen Glances

by ContrEeri



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Inspired by Fanart, Love at First Sight, M/M, Mutual Pining, gaalee week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-10
Updated: 2018-03-10
Packaged: 2019-03-26 20:04:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13865034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ContrEeri/pseuds/ContrEeri
Summary: In the morning, the bus is late and Lee can't stop staring at the person standing at the bus stop with him. At night, the bus is always on time and Gaara can't help but admire Lee.





	Stolen Glances

**Author's Note:**

> It's officially GaaLee Week! This is for Day 4: "fan art". This piece is inspired by two beautiful pieces ([1](http://onmu.tumblr.com/post/171104283570/they-live-near-the-same-bus-stop-in-the-middle-of#notes)/[2](http://onmu.tumblr.com/post/171177304385/more-of-that-au-w-the-stolen-glances-and-mutual#notes))by the incredibly talented Onmu. Seriously, if you haven't checked out their artwork, please go do so! It's all so gorgeous! This is really simple compared to what I usually write, but it was a nice change of pace for me, tbh. I challenged myself not to let this get out of hand because I needed something short and sweet. It was difficult because I have absolutely been that person with a crush on someone who took the same bus as me in the mornings back in college, so I wanted to write a long and involved story but I kept it simple. Anyway, hope everyone enjoys!

I. First Sight

The bus is late. 

Lee looks down at his watch with a heavy sigh. The bus is almost always late, but today Lee had high hopes that it would be on time. Luck is not on his side, however, and he wonders if it will be twenty minutes late today or if he will have to wait the full hour for the next bus. 

It's not so bad. Lee usually does push-ups or stretches while he's waiting. Sometimes he even pulls out the weights in his bag. He hates to stand still, hates waiting, and hates even more to be late, which is why Lee always leaves his house four hours early. The dojo he works at won't open until noon, but the commute is a solid two hours and the unreliable buses are always inevitably late. 

He sets his bag at his feet—there isn't a bench for him to set it on—and drops down to begin push-ups. 

In the middle of nowhere and in the early morning quiet, it's easy to hear the footsteps approaching the bus stop. Lee hasn't even started his first set of push-ups yet and he quickly feigns as though he were tying his shoe. The last time he waited at the bus stop with another person, his exercising had earned him only strange looks and a wide berth from the woman. 

He straightens, picking up his bag and turning to glance at the new arrival, a greeting on his lips. 

The words die in his throat. 

His new companion is a man with deep red hair and the most beautiful green eyes Lee has ever seen. His face is smooth and calm; his skin pale and flawless, save for the scar on his forehead; his lips look rose petal-soft; and his cheekbones are high and striking. His nose is stuck in a book, his green eyes roving the page at a steady pace as he approaches the bus stop, so he doesn't notice Lee standing there gaping. 

Lee quickly turns away, afraid of being caught staring, but his eyes return to the man's profile as though drawn to him. The man carries a sort of calm, enigmatic energy; it's pure magnetism and Lee is immediately swept up in it. 

His friends have told him, time and again, that love at first sight is a cliché and that real love doesn't work like that. 

Lee has always known that his friends, though their intentions are good, were wrong. 

He can feel a blush staining his cheeks, his heart beating quicker than strictly necessary when he hasn't done even a single push-up. He swallows the lump in his throat, glancing at the man beside him once more. He tries to drink in every detail, any detail about this man that might tell Lee who he is. It is completely irrational, but Lee has never been rational, and matters of the heart tend to make him a special brand of reckless. 

The book the man is reading has no title on its cover. Lee cranes his neck discreetly, trying to see some of the words within. His height over the other man works to his advantage, and he finds himself staring at a page of poetry. His mind immediately offers all manner of scenarios that might work to obtain this man's attention. Perhaps Lee could stop by the library on his lunch break and pick up a few poetry books—but what if this man never used this bus stop again? What if now was the only chance Lee had to talk to him? 

The sound of an engine and tires rolling against gravel interrupts his thoughts. He and the other man looked down the road together to where the bus has just appeared from around the corner. 

“Oh,” Lee says, unbidden, drawing the man's intense gaze to him. His face flushes, the warmth suffusing his whole body, and he quickly looks away, digging his bus pass out from his bag. 

The bus comes to a stop before them, its doors popping open. 

“Morning, Lee!” the driver greets. “Sorry we're late. You know how it is.” 

Lee, still beat red, waves the comment off. “It is not a problem! You are only ten minutes late this time!” 

If only it had been a little bit longer, he thinks morosely. He allows the other man to walk onto the bus before him, his gaze following his red hair as he walks to the back. The bus is nearly empty at this hour, and Lee worries his lip, deciding where to sit. He could follow the man to the back, but that seems rather obvious. Blushing all over, Lee takes his usual seat up front, where the driver takes up conversation. 

The entire drive, Lee finds his gaze wandering to the back of the bus, but he never strikes up the courage to talk to the other man. 

Hopefully, he'll get another chance. 

II. Double Take

Gaara's days are long. He doesn't mind it as long as he has things to do, and since moving he certainly hasn't been short on tasks to get done. His first day of classes has given him plenty of work, but he knew that going for a Masters wasn't going to be a walk in the park. At least he's already settled into his new house, so he has plenty of time when he gets home for his assignments.

The long commute will also give him time to read the material he's been assigned. 

The bus home isn't late, which probably has something to do with being in the city and not "bum-fuck-nowhere", as Kankurou had put it when he and Temari had helped Gaara move. The trip home will no doubt take longer than his trip into the city had, and so despite the already crowded bus and having to stand, Gaara pulls out one of his books and begins reading. 

The bus is noisier than it was in the morning, but not so loud that Gaara doesn't hear a familiar voice exclaim loudly, “I will see you tomorrow, Neji! Hello, Tanaka-san! It is good to see you this evening!” 

“Good evenin', Lee,” the driver says. “Bit crowded tonight. All the new college kids are getting' a lay of the land, I think.” 

“Oh! I had forgotten all about that!” Lee says, still loud even over the scattered babbling of the other passengers.

“Squeeze on in, Lee. We got a schedule to keep.” 

Gaara looks up from his book to see the man from earlier that morning. His face looks as flushed as it had on the commute into town, but he's smiling brightly and in a way that is far too inviting. Gaara does not, generally, spend a lot of time ogling complete strangers, but Lee is not the average, run of the mill stranger, and Gaara cannot help but look. 

Usually, he has no trouble focusing on what he's reading, but Lee's presence is distracting, even as he goes quiet, standing several feet from Gaara with his earbuds in and surrounded by the other passengers. He certainly isn't conventional in appearance: his eyes are large and wide, as though he can't get enough of looking at the world around him, and his face is round with a boyish charm that might never leave him. Despite this, he is also striking in a way a model might be: his skin is a sun-kissed bronze smattered with scars that leave Gaara more curious than he feels he ought to be; his body is well-muscled, his biceps bulging a little whenever the bus turns and Lee is forced to hold on a little tighter to the ring above him. His smile, however, is what has stolen Gaara's breath away. 

It is a silly, flight of fancy, and Gaara does not usually indulge in those, but Lee's smile is infectious and he wants to catch whatever Lee has. 

The bus trundles onward. Other passengers exit, but as they get closer and close to the city limits, fewer and fewer people take the place of those who've left. 

Eventually, Gaara is outright staring at Lee over the top of his book, while Lee stares out the window, moving his foot in time with his music. 

Gaara can see his own reflection when he looks past Lee, and he quickly looks away in case Lee catches him staring in the window. It's possible Lee has already noticed but is too polite to say so. The thought makes Gaara's face warm, and he pulls his book closer to his face, as though he might hide even his thoughts from Lee. 

Neither of them have moved to sit, despite the fact that they are now the only two people on the bus. 

Gaara forces himself to focus on the words on the page, but he re-reads the same sentence five times without processing any of what it means. He glances up in time to see Lee's gaze flick away from his. The bus pulls to a stop. 

“All right, Lee, you have a good night!” the driver calls. 

Lee's face is still red, possibly more-so than when he'd first gotten on the bus, and he makes a hasty retreat, not looking back at Gaara. 

“Good night, Tanaka-san!” Lee is off the bus before Gaara has realised that this is his stop too. 

He quickly grabs his things and rushes to the front as the doors close. 

“Excuse me,” he says as the driver begins to pull away, “but this is my stop, too.” 

The driver glances at him and grins. “Sorry, 'bout that. You have a good evenin'.” 

Gaara nods, practically hopping off the bus, but Lee is already gone.

III. Third Times the Charm

This time Lee is determined. 

Bravery means doing something in spite of your fears, and Lee is nothing if not brave. Or perhaps he's more reckless than brave. Either way, he's determined to strike up conversation with the man he has affectionately and, rather unfortunately, dubbed “bus boy”. It is a working nickname, but if he's lucky he will know the man's proper name by the end of the commute into the city. 

Lee steels himself as he approaches the empty bus stop, trying to discreetly look around for the other man. He hopes he has not arrived too early and hopes even more that the bus is late today. 

He waits patiently for half an hour, becoming more and more antsy as the minutes tick by. He hears the rumble of the bus in the distance, his shoulders slumping, but there is a pounding of feet on gravel, and when he looks up the man from yesterday is running towards him. 

Lee cannot help but smile. 

“You are just in time,” he says, as 'bus boy' comes to a stop just as the bus does. 

He's panting, his cheeks tinged a lovely pink, and he stares at Lee in utter surprise, his eyes so wide Lee can see flecks of gold in them. Perhaps he is just standing too close. The doors to the bus pop open.

“After you,” Lee says, nearly bowing the man onto the bus with an exaggerated sweep of his arm. Lee's face warms and he mentally berates himself for being a silly, romantic fool. 

'Bus boy' eyes Lee with those intense green eyes of his before taking a tentative step forward and boarding the bus. Lee's face warms further as he follows after him and the driver gives him a knowing grin. Thankfully, the driver doesn't say anything that might embarrass Lee. 

“Good morning!” Lee greets. 

“A very good morning,” she says with a wink, before taking off. 

Lee doesn't have time to situate himself and he goes flying forward, right into his fellow rider. The man is not built for catching someone with as much muscle mass as Lee, and the two go tumbling into a seat, their things falling all over the floor and sliding as the bus speeds down the road. They have become a tangle of limbs atop a seat, with Lee fairly crushing the other man as his full weight has fallen onto him.

“Sorry about that, kids!” the driver calls, unrepentant.

“O-oh, my goodness! I am so sorry!” Lee says, so red in the face he might as well be sunburned and still struggling to get up. 

The man does not respond immediately, staring up into Lee's face in silence, his eyes comically wide and the pink of his cheeks burning brighter. He swallows, giving Lee an understanding nod. “It's fine,” he says softly. His voice is deep and soothing, like a cello; it strikes a chord in Lee, makes his heart constrict. He's certainly in over his head now. There's no turning back. 

He manages to right himself and quickly gathers up their things. “Here,” he says, handing the man his bag and his book back to him. He sets his own bag down on the seat beside the other. “That was a rather terrible way to introduce myself, but I am Rock Lee.” He extends his hand, feeling ten times more nervous than before and only just managing to keep the tremor from his voice.

“Gaara.”

Lee thinks this name is as perfect as the hand that slips into his—Gaara's hand is soft and uncalloused, nothing like Lee's—and he wants to sing as he shakes Gaara's hand. Several songs race through his mind that might describe what Lee is feeling, but nothing clicks because staring into Gaara's eyes is nothing like any song he has ever heard before.

“That is a nice name,” he manages, because he is completely smitten and wants nothing more than to receipt sonnets as they watch the sun set together. He had, indeed, gone to the library on his lunch break and checked out a plethora of poetry books, unsure what sort of of poetry the man liked best. It is a lucky thing he has not had the chance to read any of them or he might be overwhelmed by the desire to recite one now, which he is sure would do him no good in winning this man over. He will save poetry for a later date. There is a long silence after Lee's comments—a silenced filled only with Gaara's intent gaze and Lee's mind offering up all manner of poetic ways to compare his hair or his eyes (“like the fire burning in my heart” and “more beautiful than precious jade” are Lee's favourite, and he determines that he will remember these for later, perhaps if he ever works up the courage to ask Gaara out). 

“Are you new in town?” Lee finally asks when he cannot take the silence any longer. He lets go of Gaara's hand, realizing only when it has been too long to be normal, that he is still holding it. 

Gaara nods. “Yes. I just moved here from Suna.” 

“That is quite a move!” Lee says, latching onto the conversation topic. “Did you move here by yourself?” 

“Yes, but my siblings helped.” 

Lee grins. “That is wonderful. Do you have a lot of siblings?” 

Gaara shakes his head. “Just two." 

They fall silent again and, at this point, Lee is sure that Gaara is annoyed by his attempts at conversation. Perhaps he is not a morning person, or perhaps he just doesn't like Lee. He tries to think of something to say to keep the conversation going, but he is at a loss for words. He allows the silence to stretch between them, only ever casting nervous glances at Gaara when he thinks the other isn't look. 

Often times, Gaara is looking—watching him with the eyes that Lee is definitely falling in love with—and they both have to quickly look away so they aren't caught staring. 

“What brought you out here?” Lee finally asks as they pass into the city and the bus starts to fill up. 

“School. I'm studying for my Masters.” 

“You must be incredibly smart,” Lee says stupidly. He wants to smack himself, but he refrains. 

Gaara gives him a small, shy smile. “I like to read,” he says with a shrug. “My father would have had me follow in his footsteps, but I didn't want to live in his shadow.” 

“What does he do?” 

“He was a lawyer.” 

“Oh, well, that is admirable work too!” 

Gaara snorts. “Not the way my father practiced.” He shakes his head. “I've decided to be a teacher instead.” 

“That is an admirable goal! Teaching is like nothing else in the world!” 

“Do you teach?” 

Lee nods emphatically. “Yes, at the dojo! I am one of the martial arts teachers there. It is such a joy to teach others the beauty of martial arts! To pass on my knowledge and skill to another is a precious thing! I could not imagine doing anything else.” 

Gaara's smile has not grown—he is clearly not a fan of thousand watt smiles—but it seems somehow more, and Lee's heart bangs out a wild rhythm against his rib cage. “I'm sure you're an excellent teacher.” 

Lee is beside himself, but quickly clamps down on the urge to cry. “Thank you,” he says with as much feeling as he can muster—which is, of course, quite a lot. “I hope you will come visit me sometime! Oh!” Lee deflates as he realizes that the bus has arrived at his stop. “This is my stop, actually.” 

“It was nice meeting you,” Gaara says as Lee stands. 

Lee smiles, but he can feel that it is tinged with all the bashfullness of a new found crush. “It was a pleasure meeting you, as well. I hope I will see you again soon.” 

“I'm sure I'll see you on the ride home.” Gaara's answering smile seems to Lee—and perhaps it is hopeful thinking—to be just as bashful. 

“Then I shall look for you!” 

Lee turns to look at Gaara as he's getting off the bus, which results in him tripping his way off of it. He lands in a graceless heap to the sound of the driver laughing at his expense. 

“Nice goin', lover boy,” she calls, before closing the doors and driving off. 

Despite this, he cannot summon the energy to be mad, and he watches the bus disappear around the bend, grinning to himself stupidly. 

“Fortune favors the brave,” he whispers, thinking of Gaara's eyes and the fact that he'll see him again in only ten short hours. 

IV. For the Way You Look at Me

Gaara had not expected to have a good day when he'd jolted awake to find himself running late. 

He'd fallen asleep not long after the sun had started to rise, when the sky was turning gray and the morning mist was rolling in. Thoughts of Lee had kept him awake more effectively than his insomnia. His mind, too wired for sleep, had offered up endless scenarios for how he might strike up a conversation with Lee should they be on the same bus again.

Now, having spent his morning commute talking with Lee—certainly he could have been a more active participant, but baby steps—and sitting next to him, Gaara is over the moon. He does not remember ever being over the moon because of something as simple and mundane as a conversation with a stranger on the bus, but he thinks about Lee's smile all day and decides its because most people don't smile the way Lee does. 

The day drags by, however, now that he is looking forward to its end.

Somehow, despite his impatience, his mood does not drop in any way. He is given a mountain of homework, he is forced to talk about himself in class—'an icebreaker', his professor had called it—and he ends up skipping lunch because he cannot find the library. 

But the memory of Lee's smile keeps him in good spirits. 

At the day's end, Gaara leaves campus earlier than he'd intended. He is usually married to his work, but today he has a date. Not that it's an actual date, of course, but the thought makes him smile more than usual, and he practically runs to the bus stop.

He hopes he's not too late. 

The bus is on time, but because he is early, Gaara has plenty of time to stew in his excitement and allow it to turn into anxiety. He really hadn't said much on the commute into town earlier, and it's possible Lee was put off by that. Temari always told him he wasn't approachable, that he needed to smile more. He frowns to himself. 

Lee had said he would look for him on the journey home; had seemed quite happy at the prospect, in fact. Gaara shouldn't worry. 

He huffs at this. He shouldn't worry because he doesn't even know Lee. It's not as though they're friends, let alone dating, contrary to Gaara's suddenly vivid imagination. And what's so special about a random man on a bus? Nothing. 

Except his smile, of course. 

Gaara shakes himself. 

He feels like an idiot. Kankurou would never let him live this down. How many times did Gaara turn down someone's romantic overtures? How many times did he say he didn't have time? How many times did he say he didn't care or wasn't interested in dating? And now he's a romantic? One stupid, perfect smile and he's a besotted fool? 

He doesn't even believe in love at first sight, yet here he is, unable to stop thinking about a man he's known for less than a day! 

The bus pulls up to his stop before he can go any farther down that rabbit hole and he forces his thoughts aside. There's nothing wrong with having a little crush, he tells himself. It'll probably amount to nothing, but at least it makes the commute more interesting and maybe he'll make a new friend. 

Lee seems the sort to make friends easily, Gaara muses as the bus waits to let cars pass it by before it pulls out into the road again.

The bus is crowded again, but this time he doesn't allow himself to be pushed to the back. He wants to make sure Lee sees him when he gets on the bus and so he plants himself firmly near the front, watching almost eagerly as they pass stop after stop. He'd counted how many stops from Lee's his own was, and the countdown to five is as exciting and nerve-wrecking as the wait for the bus itself had been. 

He sees Lee the moment the bus turns the corner onto the street with his stop, and he quickly fumbles his book open, determined not to look like the pathetic sap he's sure he's becoming. 

And all because of a smile, he thinks with a roll of his eyes. 

The doors pop open with a soft sound, but Lee is a veritable force and it doesn't seem as though he is willing to wait for the doors to fully open because he is somehow already on the bus, pass out and face flush, staring at Gaara. He's smiling again, that same smile that had done Gaara in the night before. 

He swallows. 

“Hello,” Gaara says softly, feeling breathless though there is absolutely no reason for it. There shouldn't be. It isn't possible for someone to take his breath away with just a smile. That's propaganda and literary devices used to tug at the heartstrings to turn people into saps who believe in things like love at first sight. It doesn't happen in real life. 

Except when it does, because Gaara definitely feels as though Lee has done just that. 

“Hello,” Lee returns, just as softly. His smile shrinks, but in only width. None of the happiness, none of the feeling imbued in that expression diminishes. It might even get brighter, though Gaara can't be sure because he feels as though he's staring at the sun already. He blinks to clear the spots from his vision, looking down at his book. 

Lee settles in next to him, shoulder brushing his gently as the bus rocks them back and forth. Gaara swallows and tries to remind himself to breathe as his skin tingles where they touch. 

“Did you have a good day at school?” Lee asks conversationally. 

Gaara nods. “I did. How was the dojo?” 

“It was wonderful,” Lee says. 

Gaara feels off balance, and it is not because the bus has just taken a sharp turn, throwing him a little forcefully into Lee's side. Lee's arm comes up around him, steadying him, making sure he doesn't fall. Gaara shivers, despite how hot it has suddenly become. 

“Careful,” Lee tells him quietly, the words whispered directly into his ear. The rest of the bus—the other passengers, the lights, even the floor—fades away. It's just him and Lee, swaying together, like some strange dance. 

Gaara vaguely remembers how to speak. “Sorry.” 

Lee shakes his head. “It is perfectly all right. I am fairly certain I almost crushed you this morning, so I suppose this makes us even.” 

Gaara's gaze flicks to Lee's mouth for a brief moment, then back up to Lee's eyes. He has known of Lee's existence for about thirty-six hours, known Lee's name for only twenty-four, and only spoken with Lee for the first time some ten hours previous. It is an incredibly short amount of time to know someone, which makes it incredibly weird that Gaara has the overwhelming urge to lean forward and kiss him. It is possible to be attracted to someone immediately, but Gaara has never felt that way before and it is mind-boggling, to say the least. 

But Lee's mouth is so incredibly close and if the bus just turned a little too sharply, moved them just the right way—

Gaara quickly looks away. “If you almost crushed me then I don't think that makes us even.” 

In the window, Gaara can see Lee's reflection frowning at him. “I suppose that is fair.” 

Gaara smiles. “I would need to almost crush you, and I'm fairly certain I didn't even come close.” 

Lee laughs. Gaara cannot remember any laugh before Lee's and he is sure that every laugh after will pale in comparison. He changes a glance at Lee, watching him from the corner of his eye. 

“Then I suppose next time, I shall let us both fall.” 

Strange though it is, Gaara is fairly certain he has already fallen—is falling right now as they speak. He smiles secretly to himself, returning his gaze to his book and the words there that mean absolutely nothing to him. 

The rest of the ride is filled with the buzzing chatter of the other passengers and the warmth of Lee pressed against his side, a little too close for a stranger, but Gaara doesn't mind. He hasn't thought to move away since falling into Lee, and Lee hasn't either, which might mean Lee likes him too. The thought makes Gaara's heart beat a little faster, but he doesn't want to get his hopes up. 

“All right, Lee,” the driver says. “You two have a good night.” 

“Good night!” Lee says, his voice loud after the silence of their commute. 

Gaara follows after Lee, stuffing his book in his bag. He hasn't retained a single word of what he read the entire ride home, but he doesn't mind. His side is warm and tingling, and if he feels a bit light headed, well maybe it's because he hasn't eaten all day. 

The bus pulls away, leaving them standing at their stop with only the moonlight above them. There are no street lights this far from the city, no light polluting the stars from the sky. When Gaara looks at Lee, he thinks this is for the best because the moonlight hits Lee's face perfectly and he is certain he has just fallen in love for the first time in his life. 

He doesn't know what to do with that, but he's going to do his best, whatever that may be.

“See you tomorrow?” he asks. 

Lee beams. “I look forward to it.” 

Gaara smiles, thinking, however foolishly, that Lee might mean something more than just their morning commute the next day. Whatever Lee means, he's looking forward to it too.


End file.
